3/28/2023 – Close to 250 games were played daily for 11 rounds at the European Championship that came to an end two weeks ago. The players were fighting for an entrance to the World Championship cycle via the World Cup, which made for very competitive struggles. Karsten Müller kept an eye on the games, and sent us many notable endgames with instructive analyses. Replay here ten of his finds! | Pictured: Bulgarian grandmaster Ivan Cheparinov | Photo: European Chess Union

3/28/2023 – 16-year-old Dommaraju Gukesh is one of the brightest talents of India and World Chess. He is now World no.18 with a FIDE Rating of 2730. The current India no.2 graced the ChessBase India Chess Club with his presence on Saturday, 18th March 2023. There was a big challenge in front of him – he was to give a simultaneous exhibition to 21 players, with the top five seeds having an Elo rating of over 2000. The spectacular even simul was held at the Phoenix Marketcity Mall in Mumbai. | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram

3/28/2023 – The "Ginger GM" Simon Williams enjoys playing the Dragon a lot, but is an even bigger fan of the Dragadorf. But, what happens if the opponent plays the interesting 6.f4 Levenfish variation for White? Simon Williams knew the answer and dominated his opponent. Chris Ward analysed the game closely, and found some interesting options for Black and White to take care of!| Photo: John Upham

3/28/2023 – Castling in endgame studies is a rich and entertaining topic - be it real castling, the threat of castling, or even just retroanalysis that proves that castling is impossible. Last year we began a new series in which we chronologically explore the most interesting endgame studies with castling ideas. We aim at a mix between informative and interesting endgame studies again this month, a mostly light-hearted article without too much text. | Photo: Pixabay

3/28/2023 – In the diagram position, it is White to move and draw. White is an exchange up but he still is in trouble because his pawns are weak and his rook has trouble defending them. In the game White did not find a way to draw the game and lost. Can you do better?

3/28/2023 – The second-round games of the Women’s Grand Prix in New Delhi were played on Monday. Bibisara Assaubayeva, the 19-year-old IM from Kazakhstan, is the only player who has so far scored a win in the tournament, as she defeated India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu with black. A look at the standings does not help much at the moment: six players have played two games, four have played only one. | Photo: FIDE / Ismael Nieto

3/27/2023 – Hikaru Nakamura pulled through to become the 2023 American Cup Champion after defeating Wesley So 2½-1½ in a difficult final Elimination Match. The finale started out with three solid draws, but finished abruptly in the fourth game after a blunder by So got his queen trapped inside Nakamura’s territory. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

3/27/2023 – It is usual for rook endgames to end in a draw. At least, they usually have a strong tendency to do so. Recently young grandmaster Iniyan visited our company and showed us a position from one of his games which should be won by White. But he needed to work very hard to do so. Even our endgame expert Dr. Karsten Müller, and a visiting super-GM colleague of Iniyan had great difficulty finding the win. Can you help find the convincing proof?

3/27/2023 – The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2022-23 is into its third leg, and it is a huge moment for Indian chess. The start to the event has been rocky. One of the participants, Zhansaya Abdumalik, has withdrawn from the tournament after reaching New Delhi and spending a day at the venue. The players wrote an official letter to the FIDE President, and FIDE responded back with an official statement. Meanwhile, Zhansaya’s compatriot Bibisara Assaubayeva, who is present at the venue, wrote a post on social media voicing her opinions. We try to put it all together in this article. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

3/26/2023 – The Kasparov Chess Foundation organized the third annual KCF University Cup in February this year. The tournament, which attracted well over 500 university students from every continent, was won by Texas Tech University. Francesco Bortolussi, who played board 4 for the winning team, sent us a first-person account of the tournament itself and of the team’s visit to New York City, where they had a training session with the legend himself, Garry Kasparov! | Photo: Alexander Onischuk

3/26/2023 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 118th instalment of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving", Herman continues to explain why it is good to study and to play the Sicilian. | Photo: Pascal Simon

3/26/2023 – America’s best chess players return to the Saint Louis Chess Club to battle over the board from March 17- 26 for the second annual American Cup. With $300,000 in prize money, the competitors will prove their mettle under mounting pressure in a double-elimination knockout tournament. Unlike in the inaugural edition, Hikaru Nakamura will be among the participants this time around. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 20.30 CEST (14.30 EDT, 0.00 IST)